Review: Andres Roots Roundabout – Three!

Posted on: Saturday, Apr 26, 2014

Andres Roots Roundabout – Three

(Roots Art Records: RAR1304)

Here’s a mighty fine release criminally ignored by us on its release last year – but still deserving of a few words now! The multi-talented Andres Roots from Tartu in Estonia leads his unconvential trio, Roundabout, through a lovely and totally instrumental album – with the line-up of two guitars and drums!

Apart from Roots on guitar, he is joined by Martin Eessalu (guitar) and Raul Terep (drums) – as ever the album was recorded on ‘home turf’ at the White Room in Tartu, with mixing, mastering and co-production duties handled by Asko-Rome Altsoo and Roots himself, and it sounds very nice indeed!

Andres Roots and Martin Eessalu’s guitars take solos on various songs and swap lines throughout the songs; with the drums of Raul Terep very prominent throughout. Highlights are many including revisits to two Bullfrog Brown – Roots longtime band – in the form of “Wagon Swing” and “Saucer”, and a tune that goes back longer in origin, “Saucer” – which Terep actually played on back in 2005.

Tracks such as “Link To Elmore” and “Saucer Full Of Cream” give broad hints in the titles alone to guess where they are coming from, as well as “Moby Duck” . . . you can tell they have had a ball making this record!

The music itself touches into some rock and swing, a little bit of ‘surf’ and more . . . whilst of course being firmly rooted in the blues . . . a lot is slide-driven but with also some fine intricate finger-picked guitar work and of course the constant driving rhythms of Raul Terep.